Donald's Size/Wuwelak

[Rob Klein]

For Alejandro Murgia: Barks change in the Ducks to taller, more upright figures 
from mid-1957 through 1959 may have been an attempt to make them more human. 
This MAY, or MAY NOT have resulted in an attempt to make them more expressive, 
to make up for the fact that he had had to use shorter, tighter, more careful 
strokes, because of the reduction in paper quality in 1955-56. Western 
Publishing changed from Strathmore Bond Weave (very absorbent of ink), to a 
clay-coated  thinner paper (whose surface was much less absorbent).  The 
strokes skidded across the paper, causing errors. The paper tore easily.  
Western changed the paper AGAIN in early-mid 1959 (late 1959 and 1960 
printings), to a much more slick-surfaced type, which held the ink much less 
well. It caused the ink to blob and run. Barks had to draw much, much more 
carefully, and needed to shorten and tighten his strokes even more 
drastically.  This latter change, caused a reduction in the "springiness" of 
his characters, and they became much more static. The 1959 change affected Tony 
Strobl's work even more, causing his figures to become "angular, or squarish", 
and fully lacking in "life".  While the earlier change in paper quality was 
probably not the deciding factor in Barks' increase in the Ducks height and 
stature changes, I believe the 1959 paper change may well have been a deciding 
factor in Barks' change back to the shorter, more compact figures.

For Simon deBeer: Barks used Esterbrook No. 356 Art and Drafting Pen. That 
series contained quill-type split point pens, having varying degrees of point 
radius (size), stiffness and springiness.  I believe Barks' was one of the 
smaller and springier pens in that line.  I do not believe that 
the "springiness" of his strokes could have been achieved with the stiffer pens.

For Leo Schulte, Gerd, Roy, and Timo: Thanks Roy, for the definition of 
Wuwelak. I seem to remember that word from my childhood, being a monster from 
the forest. I looked it up in a Czech dictionary. The closest word was vyvelot 
(equivalent to wuwelot-which is close to wuwelak. It means one who 
is 'changeable" or "excitable".  I did not find it in a polish dictionary, nor 
the Hungarian dictionary. Although, Slavic-sounding, I thought it might have 
been borrowed by all of the Central and Eastern European folklores.  This 
information, together with closely related words meaning "vampire", "monster"
and "tree, as spirit protector of the forest", may be various manifestations of 
ancient Indo-European legends, older than the time when the Germanic, Baltic 
and Slavic peoples separated.  The Indo-European root word "wel" (common in all 
the versions we quoted may have indicated a "changeling". That is to say:(1) 
the vampire is a "spirit of nature" which changes form from human to wolf, bat 
or other beast; (2) the "monster" in folklore often changes in form, from an 
ordinary animal or human (upon the trigger of its "excitement", the "protector 
tree" changes from an ordinary tree to its animated (superpowerful form), 
when "excited" by a danger to the forest.

Rob Klein


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